Latin Love, Vol I: vocare 11 words

The word "vocabulary" itself grows out of this root. Learn these words derived from the Latin root "vocare" (meaning "to name or call").
More Latin Love, Volume I lists:
portare,
sci,
struere, and
via!
ELA Common Core State Standard: "Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word."

To "evoke" is to "call out" or bring forth a memory or feeling. Words have connotations that may evoke certain positive or negative feelings. You can have an evocative experience when you revisit a place that was familiar to you as a child.

The word "provoke" has a negative connotation, suggesting violence or retaliation in response to continued harassment. You know better than to tease or bother a dog, for example, because even the friendliest dogs can be provoked into harming you if you frighten or annoy them. Few dogs will attack without provocation.

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

They have damaged streets and insulted the police -
provoking them into using tear gas.
—
BBC (Jun 12, 2013)

With the prefix "re-" meaning "back" and the root "vok-" meaning "to call," we can see how the word "revoke" is used when a licence, certificate, passport, or privilege is revoked. Words that we say or write to others, however, are irrevocable: We can say we're sorry for having said them, but we can't truly take them back.

With the prefix "ad-" meaning "toward" or "forward" and the root "voc-" meaning "to call," we can understand how an advocate (noun) is someone who advocates (verb) for a person or cause by speaking in its favor.

request earnestly (something from somebody); ask for aid or protection

NOTES:

Another word for "prayer" is "invocation," the "calling in" of God, usually in honor of a serious occasion. Under the United States Constitution, as seen in the example sentence, defendants are said to "invoke their Fifth Amendment rights" to protect them against having to testify against themselves in court.

be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information

NOTES:

With "equi-" meaning "same" and "voc-" meaning "to call," the word "equivocate" is used to refer to statements that manage to be both true and untrue at the same time. People equivocate when their purpose is to deceive but not be guilty of actual lying. Equivocating is, simply, a clever form of lying by knowing how to twist words.

To give a clear yes or no is to be "unequivocal." With "un-" meaning "not," "equi-" meaning "same," and "voc-" meaning "to call," we can see how this word is put together. When we ask a direct question, we want an unequivocal, not an equivocal, answer.

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Scientists have been loath to answer such questions in
unequivocal terms.
—
Slate (Dec 7, 2012)

With "voc-" meaning "to call" and "fer-" meaning "to carry," we can see how this word is put together. At a football, basketball, soccer, or baseball game, fans are expected to be vociferous, but at a golf or tennis competition, fans are expected to be quiet. Although an opera singer has a loud voice, she would not be called vociferous on stage (but divas are known to be vociferous in their demands off stage).

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

Their cry increased in volume,
vociferous, echoing in the trees.
—
Ramsay, R.

Certain professions are often said to be "vocations," or "callings" because of the strong feelings that people have about choosing them. For example, priests and nuns often refer to having a "vocation" to enter lives of religious service.

An avocation is a hobby, an enjoyable activity that you do for the joy of it. With the prefix "a-" meaning, in this case, "away form" and "voc-" meaning "to call," it is interesting to note that your avocation, your hobby, calls you away from your daily obligations.

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

She took up even the most thoroughly feminine
avocations, and learned to sew, and knit, and cook.
—
Adams, W. H. Davenport